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From outer to inner space – meet the scientists who use satellites to unlock the secrets of the ocean around us

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04 October 2013

PML ocean scientists are celebrating World Space Week (4-10 October) with an invitation to members of the public to visit the laboratory to find out how satellites in space are unlocking the secrets of our seas.

‘From outer to inner space - Using satellites to monitor the seas around us’, is taking place on Thursday 10 October, 6.45pm-9pm and is FREE, simply register via email to: forinfo@pml.ac.uk.

Satellites are used for a variety of purposes, perhaps the best known are communications satellites that provide TV signals and mobile phone connections; others are Earth Observation satellites, often circling the globe many times each day, scanning land and ocean using sophisticated sensors to measure many aspects of the Earth’s surface. The satellites PML works with provide wide scale observations of the sea surface, to gain information on how the ocean functions, how it interacts with the atmosphere and the terrestrial environment, and how it is being affected by global changes. This information is also of great interest to fisheries management and the early detection of harmful algal blooms.

PML is at the forefront of developing and refining techniques, improving accuracy of the information that can be gained from satellites relating to the world ocean but also our local seas. PML is a global leader in this branch of science and hosts one of the largest groups of experts in this field, and undertakes projects across the world but also here on our doorstep in Plymouth.

‘From outer to inner space - Using satellites to monitor the seas around us’ includes talks from PML’s team of internationally renowned scientists and includes a key presentation from Professor Trevor Platt, who is a Fellow of the Royal Society, Executive Director of the Partnership for the Observation of the Global Oceans (POGO) and a Professorial Fellow at PML. The event will be hosted by Kelvin Boot, Science Communicator and BBC Radio 4 Presenter.

This is a free event and all you have to do is register via email: forinfo@pml.ac.uk., doors will open at 6.45pm with the talks starting at 7pm followed by an opportunity to meet with the experts. This event is supported by the EU ISECA project.

The event at PML will focus on the opportunities and use of satellites for monitoring water quality and, for example, why the sea foams, how basking sharks find their food in the vast ocean and which areas of our seas should be set aside as bird feeding areas. Amazingly plankton, amongst the smallest organisms on our planet, can be spotted from space, come and find out how PML scientists use this information to predict when and where harmful algal blooms might occur; where we should place marine conservation zones and how the seas are reacting to global phenomena such as climate change and rising temperatures.

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Further Information

PML scientists are embarking on two new projects funded by the European Space Agency, ESA, to ensure the accuracy of satellite data that is used to observe our changing oceans, now and into the future.

The part of the ocean between 100 m and 1000 m is called the mesopelagic region. This region contains one of the largest ecosystems on the planet and most of the ocean’s fish. Yet the mesopelagic remains a vastly unexplored and poorly understood ecosystem.